Walsh and Leroux: For better development, try smarter zoning

Sunday

May 18, 2014 at 4:00 PMMay 19, 2014 at 11:55 AM

By Chris Walsh and Andre LerouxGuest Columnists

Our cities and towns deserve a modern set of tools to plan ahead for growth. Too often, development proposals are subject to legal wrangling, wasting time and money for local government as well as property owners and litigated outcomes often leave residents with projects that don’t perform or add value to the community.The status quo threatens Massachusetts’ future. Our state’s outdated zoning, planning and permitting laws make it cheapest and easiest to build projects in haphazard locations that may waste taxpayer dollars. This "sprawl" costs up to twice as much in public infrastructure, wastes precious open space, costs 10 percent more to maintain in services, and produces only 10 percent of the property taxes of a vibrant, walkable area.Our zoning laws simply do not reflect today’s needs and practices, it is time for sensible reform. Our state’s laws governing development have not been updated in 40 years. Fortunately, there is a bill pending on Beacon Hill that begins to fix this. House Bill No. 1859, "An Act Promoting the Planning and Development of Sustainable Communities," is practical legislation that gives Massachusetts cities and towns clear authority and flexible tools to plan, develop, and protect our communities.The proposal will make it easier for communities to decide where to sensibly grow and where to preserve by making master planning more flexible, proactive and less costly. It encourages communities to establish districts for prompt permitting of housing and commercial growth while adopting enhanced environmental protections. The law will also determine development impact fees by a formula, curbing contentious negotiations with developers over the cost of additional infrastructure.Our antiquated zoning laws hurt our environment as well. Every day in Massachusetts, 22 acres of forest and farmland are converted primarily to low-density residential sprawl. One contributor is an obsolete process called "Approval Not Required" (ANR) roadside development, which is almost unregulated, even on dirt roads or roads that might only exist on paper. We are the only state in the nation that allows this. Our reform proposal would enable a city or town to replace ANR with an expedited review process with some teeth in it. There are also provisions that would improve the siting of development to protect our landscapes, reduce flooding, and recharge our local water tables and streams.Let’s take development fights out of the courts. This bill brings our zoning law into the 21st century and clarifies many gray areas of the law so that everyone understands what they mean. The legislation would create standardized zoning protections once an application for a building permit, special permit, or subdivision plan is filed. It would set reasonable procedures for issuing zoning variances that will benefit homeowners and municipalities. It encourages development disputes to be resolved by mediation rather than court battles. It provides clear local authority for modern-day practices such as inclusionary zoning, form-based codes, natural resource protection zoning and site plan review.The zoning reform bill has been crafted with the expertise and input of many groups that care about sensible growth and a high quality of life in our communities, such as the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, the Massachusetts Public Health Association, The Massachusetts Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the MetroWest Regional Collaborative, conservation groups and the organizations that represent municipal attorneys and planners.We can’t squander this historic opportunity to pass zoning reform before the legislative session ends July 31st. The bill costs the state nothing and will improve the livability of our cities and towns. Its passage will be an important step toward a fair and equitable system of development rules that will encourage our communities to plan ahead for the growth we need, instead of just reacting to unanticipated development proposals.André Leroux is the executive director of the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance. Rep. Chris Walsh, D-Framingham, is a state representative and a Massachusetts registered architect.